


Possessed

by janetcarter



Category: Earth 2 (TV 1994)
Genre: Demonic Possession, Episode Tag: After the Thaw, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27066379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janetcarter/pseuds/janetcarter
Summary: Danziger's actions while possessed bring back unpleasant memories for Julia.
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Possessed

**Author's Note:**

> For the Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt "Demonic/Ghostly Possession."

Everything had been so hectic.

They stayed the night at the caves by the Elder's request. Alonzo hadn't been up for talking and, well, Julia had no clue where Devon and Danziger had gone. So, long after Alonzo fell asleep, Julia stayed awake prodding at her bruises in the candle flame. The throbbing pain was like the way memories of her mother always pulsed in her dreams, an essential artery running through her subconscious.

As expected, that night's sleep was particularly tachycardic.

The next day, she tried not to flinch around Danziger. It hadn't been his fault he'd… yelled in her face and gripped her arms so tight she thought they'd snap off. Plus, her own dedication to studying the creature was probably, at least in part, to blame. What right did she have to be upset here?

Either way, she was still quiet on the ride back, making sure to sit next to Alonzo as Danziger drove beside Devon. Julia's temple rested against the vehicle's rail, numb to the bruising bumps of the road, as the scenery blurred into a new headache. It was preferable to focus on that instead of the unsettling feelings that refused to leave.

Once they were back at the biodome the next morning, and she was able to shrink away to the med-tent, which was far from private but it was hers, she finally breathed. She'd have to call Danziger in for an examination at some point, but she'd let him rest. She'd let them all rest, for now.

Not herself, though. No, she was used to the exhaustion of interrupted sleep so she threw herself into her work as soon as she could get her hands on her microscope. Was it urgent that she study Vegetation Samples 197A and 197B? Probably not. But what else was she to do?

Talk to Bess, she realized, when the sound of the biodome door made her flinch.

"Julia," she said sweetly, carefully closing the door behind her. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

Julia sighed in relief. Medical problems she could do. "What is it?"

"Back before, when Danziger…" She paused, letting Julia fill in the blanks with a flash of anxiety. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Okay. Not medical, then. "Yes, of course. We've faced worse."

Bess sighed. "There's a difference between getting kidnapped by Grendlers and having a man shake you by the shoulders, Julia."

"Not much difference on this planet." Not when the man in question is a friend possessed by a creature  _ you _ couldn't leave alone.

"I saw the look in your eyes." Bess took a deep breath. "And I've been around enough…. difficult… people… to know that ain't somethin' you shake off."

Had she really been that obvious? Devon had laid a gentle hand on her shoulder while walking her out of the biodome, and of course made sure to sit next to Danziger on the ride to the tunnels. But that was before they knew they were in the clear with his possession.

It was enough consolation at the time, especially considering how they were so preoccupied with fixing Danziger, Julia hadn't had time to process what had happened. But in the calm after the storm, the whole situation was sinking its claws in deeper when they should've vanished with the Terrian.

"It was unsettling, yes," she admitted. "But… I'm fine, Bess."

"Okay," Bess said quietly. Julia could tell she didn't quite believe her. "Well, if you wanna talk about it, you know where to find me."

Julia nodded stiffly. "Thank you for checking in."

With Bess gone, Julia felt the weight of it all at full force. She liked to think her past didn't bother her. She was 22 lightyears away from her mother and, even though she'd still been under the Council's hold for a time, she was finally free. There was no reason to keep thinking about her childhood; about  _ her. _

She could justify the nightmares; the fear of a Council ship departing just after their own with her mother at the helm, her associates scattering out over the planet like flies. They still had the satellite. Who knew what Reilly was up to?

But… other things, she couldn't justify. Other things, like a possessed Danziger shaking her by the shoulders and screaming in her face, shoving her into vivid memories of her mother's own hands, firm but aggressive all the same.

A thump halted her thoughts. A sharp inhale made its way down Julia's throat as she saw a loose fist tap against the open door, arm leading to Danziger’s hunched form and sleep-deprived eyes. 

"Danziger, hi." She forced a smile and pushed down her heart from her throat. It wasn't a “demon” in front of her. It wasn't her mother. It was someone she had grown to care for, someone who her own actions hurt, someone who was struggling enough without having to pity her on top of it all. She was a doctor, a scientist; not a victim. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he said, clearing his throat. "But, uh, I'm not here for me."

"Oh." That was what she was afraid of. It wasn't easy to be around him physically, given how the creature had been wearing  _ his  _ face as a mask and weaponized _ his _ hulking form. But the thing was, she preferred the general shakiness in her bones to forfeiting the shield of automated bedside manner.

"Devon told me a lot of what happened when I was… you know." He looked to the ground, and Julia was glad for it. It let her swallow hard and shift without making things worse. But after a moment, he met her eyes once again. His gaze wasn't soft; it never was, but it wasn't anywhere near as piercing as it had been with the creature in charge. And oddly, despite how he usually towered over even the tallest of people, he seemed to look up at her from his place in the doorway. "I just wanna say I'm sorry."

An apology. That separated him from her mother quite clearly. 

"Oh, don't worry about it. I mean…" Now it was her turn to look away, but the fact her sight landed on those vegetation samples only reminded her of her own responsibility in the matter. She didn’t think she’d been wrong, exactly, to try finding out more about the planet. But it hadn’t been the first time she crossed a line for the sake of science, even if the group’s survival was always part of the motivation. It’d been part of Danziger’s, too. "I’m sure we could’ve found a compromise if I’d been more willing to listen. You didn't deserve to go through all that." 

Then, in the back of her head, she swore she heard Bess’s voice softly say:  _ Neither did you. _

He nodded and then he was gone. That was something she appreciated about him in times like this, that he wasn’t big on emotions either. 

Too bad she was alone with hers now, a dreadful feeling that told her Danziger hadn’t been the real problem here. She was partly responsible for what happened to the both of them, yes, but… 

She had just been a kid in almost all the rest. If she didn’t excel at her mother’s expectations, if she even whispered something her mother perceived as defiance, it was her own fault when a smack stung her cheek. 

Her hand hesitantly touched the area, phantom pains tingling all these lightyears away. She didn't need to have taken the required psych classes to know that trauma never goes away easily, especially if buried rather than faced. But that was the problem, she supposed: recognizing it for what it was. 


End file.
